Grooved bow, particularly for stringed musical instruments



G. GALELLI Sept. l, 1959 GROOVED BOW, PARTICULARLY FOR STRINGED MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS Filed Dec. 27, 1956 INVENTOR.- Giwszlnre Gala-lli Agent GROOVED BOW, PARTICULARLYFOR STRINGED MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS "Giuseppe Galelli,'Milan, Italy Application December 27, 1956, ySerial No. 630,828 Claims priority, application Italy December 30, 1955 7 Claims. (Cl. 84-282) The present invention relates to a bow for stringed instruments, such as viola and violin and various plucking instruments.

Bows for stringed instruments have been proposed yheretofore which comprise a wooden rod and a bundle V.of `horseor vegetal hairs, extending therealong, which may be stretched at various degrees by mechanical means associated with said rod.

Such conventional bows appear to be rather fragile, their cost is not negligible, and the replacement of the hair bundle gives rise to time losses and expenditures and most frequently cannot be effected by unskilled persons. Moreover, from the musical point of view, it appears that such conventional bows are acoustically inert, that is to say they are designed only to provoke -the sound and not to iniluence the same.

It is accordingly an object of the present invention to obviate such drawbacks, by providing an unbreakable,

acoustically active bow.

Another object Vof Vthe invention is to provide a bow Aof the-class described the manufacture of which does not involve high expenses and the duration of which fis almost uniimited. More particularly it is an object of this invention to provide a bow in which the hair bundle may easily and quickly be replaced even by unskilled persons.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a bow wherein the distance between hairs and rod may be held to such a value as to improve the purity of the sound produced by the stringed instrument.

According to a principal feature of the invention, the bow comprises a rod, a channel grooved in said rod along at least part of its longitudinal extension, and mounting means at both ends of the rod for removably securing the hair bundle thereto, said means comprising at one end a key, a slider and screw means screwed in said slider and in an extension of said rod, said key being mounted on said slider so as to be able to slide thereon and clamp the hairs to the slider.

Further objects and features of the invention will be made evident in the following disclosure and a full comprehension thereof may best be achieved by consideration of the accompanying drawing, which is for illustrative purposes only, wherein:

Fig. l is a longitudinal section along the bow according to the invention;

Fig. 2 shows a cross-sectional view along line II-II of Fig. l; and

Fig. 3 shows a cross-sectional view along line III-Ill of Fig. 1.

Referring now more particularly to the drawing, the bow according to the invention is formed of a staff or rod 1, made of metal, plastic material or the like, which is substantially flexible although being suiciently tough, said rod carrying a hair bundle 2. A part of the longitudinal extension of rod 1 is grooved at 21 (Fig. 3) so as to have a channel-shaped U cross section. On the back of the rod, i.e. on the face of it remote from the United States Patent O W 2,901,937 'Patented Sept. l, 1959 2 hair bundle, ya -stiiening band `4 is secured by means of rivets 3.

A Vcursor 5 is capable of displacement along the rod and of being stationarily fixed in an `arbitrary point, by means of a screw 6, which Iis suitably inclined so as vnot to interfere with the strings of the musical instrument.

By virtue of its channel-shaped cross section, the rod reiiects the vibrations towards y'the sound box of the musical instrument, thus taking -an active part to the `generation .of the sounds.

The adjustable cursor 5 allows the player to balance at will its bow, and to modify the mechanical vibrationsfof the same for didactic purposes thereby compelling the'bow to effect a rebound according to a regular rhythm.

At the right end, with reference to Fig. l, the bow comprises means which allow the hair bundle 2 to be detachably secured to the bow. Such means comprise a removable element 7 for guiding the hair bundle 2, which -is -formed of a plate bent at a right angle and ending in a fork 7a. This plate is inserted below and adjacent the upper -s'ide 9a of the end portion 9 of the rod which has a square tubular cross section. In this tubular squareshaped portion 9 of the rod, a cotter 8 is inserted so as to be placed underneath the plate 7 and above the bent end of the hair bundle 2, this cotter being guided along the grooved rod end through its square portion 9. It is obvious that, when the hair bundle is stretched, as will -be hereinafter disclosed, the forked end 7a of plate 7 is subjected to a torque tending to swing it around the terminal edge of the lside 9a, thereby pressing downwards the cotter 8 against the hair bundle which is consequently clamped to the rod l1. Abutment 8a of cotter 8 bears upon the inner edge of side 9a, thus preventingcotter 8 from being drawn out of portion 9 of `theirod.

To the left-hand end -of Arod 1 (Fig. '1) a frog 10 is secured by means of screws 11. Through a hole 11' in frog 10 a screw 12 is engaging with the slider 13, whereas a bracket 10a of said frog bears a guide member .14 having two side borders 15 (Fig. l), said guide member being suitable for guiding the hair bundle 2. The slider 13 has a slot 16, an uper groove I17, and two lateral grooves y18 in parallel relationship to each other. A bent portion of said hair bundle is inserted in slot 16 and is secured to slider `13 by means of a rightangled retaining plate 19 which in turn is removably secured to the slider by means of a buckle 20 having a C-shaped cross section (Fig. 2) and slipped on the slider 13, thus clamping under pressure the plate 19.

The hair bundle is thus detachably connected with the slider 13 since for disconnecting the same it is enough to` displace in the direction of arrow A the buckle 20 and to remove the plate 19.

If the hair bundle 2 has to be removed from the bow as in the case of its replacement by a new set, the hair bundle is rst disengaged in the above-described manner from plate 19 and slider :13, and then the cotter 8 is displaced in the direction of arrow B whereby the plate 7 may be removed in direction of arrow A. The hair bundle is thus completely loosened from the bow.

It will be appreciated that by increasing or decreasing the tension of the hair bundle 2, by adjustment of the screw 12, it will be possible to modify the rebound characteristics of the bow on the strings of the musical instrument.

Although the preferred embodiment of the invention has been herein described, various modifications and substitutions may be effected without departing from the underlying inventive concept. It is not intended, therefore, to be limited to the specific disclosure con tained herein, and hereby the right is reserved to all q J such modifications and substitutions as properly come within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim: 1. A bow for a stringed musical instrument, comprising a staff formed over the greater part of its length with a channel-shaped cross section defining a groove on one side of said staff, and mounting means adapted detachably to secure a bundle of hairs to the ends of said bow in a position facing said groove; said mounting means including a holder on one of said ends provided with a recess parallel to said staff for receiving said bundle, said holder having a slot transverse to said recess and communicating7 therewith at a location remote from the other of said ends, an angularly shaped retaining plate having a first leg received in said slot and a second leg received in said recess, and clamping means engaging said holder for pressing said retaining plate into contact with an extremity of the bundle positioned to lie in said recess under said second leg and to form a loop around said first leg within said slot.

2. A bow according to claim 1, wherein said staff consists of metal.

3. A bow according to claim 1, further comprising a cursor longitudinally displaceable along said stai and fastening means for immobilizing said cursor in a selected position on said staff.

4. A bow for a stringed musical instrument, comprising a staff, a bundle of hairs spanning said staff and mounting means for detachably securing said bundle to an end of said staff, said mounting means including a holder provided with a recess parallel to said staff and with a slot transverse to said recess and communicating therewith at a location remote from the other end of said staff, an angularly shaped retaining plate having a first leg received in said slot and a second leg received in said recess, said bundle having an extremity received in said recess under said second leg and looped around said first leg within said slot, and clamping means in engagement with said holder pressing said retaining plate into contact with said extremity.

5. A bow according to claim 4, wherein said mounting means further comprises a frog, said holder being slidably secured to said frog.

6. A bow for a stringed musical instrument, comprising a staff having a tubular end, a bundle of hairs spanning said staff and mounting means for detachably securing said bundle to said tubular end, said mounting means including an angularly shaped holder having a rst leg axially inserted in said tubular end and having a bifurcate second leg extending transversely away from said staff at an extremity of said first leg remote from the other end of said staff, said bundle being received in the bifurcation of said second leg and having an extremity looped around said second leg and introduced into said tubular end, said mounting means further including cotter means inserted in said tubular end alongside said first leg for clamping said extremity in position.

7. A bow for a stringed musical instrument, comprising a staff formed over the greater part of its length with a channel-shaped cross section dening a groove on one side of said staff, and mounting means adapted detachably to secure a bundle of hairs to the ends of said bow in a position facing said groove, one of said ends being formed into a tube; said mounting means including an angularly shaped holder having a first leg axially inserted in said tube and having a bifurcate second leg extending transversely away from said staff at an extremity of said first leg remote from the other of said ends, said mounting means further including cotter means inserted in said tube alongside said first leg for clamping in place an extremity of the bundle received in the bifurcation of said second leg and introduced into said tube between one of its walls and said cotter means.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 482,255 Kretschmer Sept. 6, 1892 764,558 Carlson July l2, 1904 833,463 Kane Oct. 16, 1906 

